Ashurst advised packaging machinery manufacturer, Oystar, a
portfolio company of Berlin-based private equity house,
Odewald & Compagnie, on the restructuring of its
liabilities.
At the beginning of the restructuring discussions, the Oystar
Group reached a standstill agreement with a syndicate of banks
and subordinated lenders, in order to develop a long-term
restructuring concept together with Odewald & Compagnie. During
the standstill period, which was extended several times, KPMG
provided an expert opinion on restructuring needs and, based
upon which Roland Berger created a restructuring proposal. On
the basis of KPMG's opinion and this proposal, Odewald &
Compagnie, the Oystar Group and the senior and mezzanine lenders
finally agreed on a concept to restructure the existing
liabilities. The agreed proposal provides,
inter
alia, for the provision of further liquidity by Odewald
& Compagnie.
Ashurst advised both the Oystar Group and Odewald &
Compagnie during the restructuring negotiations. On the financing
side, international finance partner
Dr Bernd Egbers from Ashurst
Munich led and was
responsible for coordinating all lawyers involved in
advising the borrowers and the sponsors side. He was
assisted by associates Richard Schulze-Muth and Simon
Stadtmann. Dr Egbers and his team moved from Frankfurt to the
Munich office at the beginning of May this year, in order to
establish a loan markets presence there and to continue building up
relationships with private equity investors and banks.
Corporate partner
Dr Ingo
Scholz and associate Dr Yorck Graf von Pfeil advised from
Ashurst's restructuring team in
Frankfurt. The comprehensive
finance and corporate team was supported by the paralegals Carina
Bechstedt and Dominique Blaurock.
Ashurst further assisted the restructuring in Spain, France and
the UK with support from
Madrid international finance partner
Jose Christian Bertram and associate Vanesa Piñeiro,
Paris international finance
partner
James Collis and
associate Daniela Kotzeva, as well as Paris corporate associates
Anne Reffay and Delphine Guérin,
London international finance partner
Mark Vickers and associate
Navdeep Benning as well as London corporate partner
Matt McDonald.
Furthermore, in the USA partner David A. Lander (Thompson Coburn
LLP) and partner Steven R. Rutkovsky with associate Pamela Hanson
(Ropes & Gray LLP) worked
in situ as legal advisers
to the companies.
Ashurst has been advising Odewald & Compagnie for many years
and has assisted the group on a number of transactions,
inlcuding on financing its initial acquisition of the
Oystar Group in 2007.
Odewald & Compagnie invests in established and strongly
growing mid-sized companies in German-speaking countries and
neighboring economies within the framework of private equity
transactions. Investors include insurance companies, banks, pension
funds and asset management companies here and abroad.
The Oystar Group is one of the world's leading providers of
process technology, packaging equipment and technology, and
corresponding services. Oystar also possesses extensive know-how in
the key areas of dairy products, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, and
cosmetics. This expertise forms the basis for the Oystar group
companies' specialization in optimizing, designing, and
constructing whole packaging machinery lines.